CFP Abstract for "Experimental Design for Real-World Systems

CALL FOR PAPERS

Experimental Design for Real-World Systems

AAAI Spring 2009 Symposium, March 23-25, Palo Alto, CA

Submission deadline: October 3, 2008

As more artificial intelligence (AI) research is fielded in real-world applications, the evaluation of systems designed for human-machine interaction becomes critical. AI research often intersects with other areas of study, including human-robot interaction, human-computer interaction, assistive technology, and ethics. Designing experiments to test hypotheses at the intersections of multiple research fields can be incredibly challenging. Many commonalities and differences already exist in experimental design for real-world systems. For example, the fields of human-robot interaction and human-computer interaction are two fields that have both joint and discrete goals. They look to evaluate very different aspects of design, interface, and interaction. In some instances, these two fields can share aspects of experimental design, while, in others, the experimental design must be fundamentally different.

We will provide a forum for researchers from many disciplines to discuss experiment design and the evaluation of real-world systems. We invite researchers from all applicable fields of human-machine interaction. We also invite researchers from allied fields, such as psychology, anthropology, design, human-computer interaction, human-robot interaction, rehabilitation and clinical care, assistive technology, and other related disciplines.

This symposium will focus on a wide variety of topics that address the challenges of experiment design for real-world systems including:
* the design of system evaluations,
* successes and failures in system evaluations,
* survey design for user studies,
* understanding the role technology plays in society,
* ethics of human subject studies,
* evaluating the use of machines as interventions,
* the uses of quantitative and qualitative data,
* and other related topics.

Format and Submissions

We will have a mix of plenary speakers, short presentations, and break-out groups. We will also have a poster session. Short presentations and posters are invited to submit an abstract (< 3 pages) on experiments conducted during their research, focused on the experimental methodology, especially those with unusual and effective methodologies. Submission formatting details at http://robotics.usc.edu/~dfseifer/aaai-expdesign/. Email submissions to aaai-sss-2009@cs.uml.edu.

Important Dates

* Call for Papers Due: October 3, 2008
* Authors Notified: November 2008
* Camera Ready Due: January 9, 2009

Organizing Committee

David Feil-Seifer (USC), Heidy Maldonado (Stanford), Bilge Mutlu (CMU), Leila Takayama (Stanford), Katherine Tsui (UMass Lowell)

Program Committee

Jenny Burke (USF), Kerstin Dautenhahn (Hertfordshire), Gert Jan Gelderbloom (VILANS), Maja Mataric (USC), Aaron Steinfeld (CMU), Holly Yanco (UMass Lowell)